Printing device



Aug; 9, 1932. M. J. HOFFMAN PRINTING DEVICE "Filed Jan. 22,

5 Sheets-Sheet 1 mm NW Aug. 9, 193 M. J. HOFFMAN PRINTING DEVICE FiledJan. 22. 1931 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 W25 72642) pfiw Aug. 9, 1932. M. J.HOFFMAN 1,871,060

PRINTING DEVICE Filed Jan. 22. 1931 I5 Sheets-Sheet 3 E 35:113. mm fzrri uuimmma V Patented Aug. 9, 1932 MORRIS J. HOFFMAN, OF CHICAGO,ILLINOIS PRINTING DEVICE Application filed January 22, 1931.

This invention relates to printing devices, and itsprincipal object isthe provision of simple and novelmeans for quickly setting up selectedtype characters into printing position, so thatone or more numbers orwords may be printed therefrom. Another object is to provide in aprinting device an index plate, whereby the members bearing the typecharacters may be automatically stopped at theirproper position topresent the selected type characters in printing position.

,Another object is to provide a series of disk 'like printing membersplaced side by J side and having type characters disposed on theirperipheries and having also means cooperatingwith an index plate forlocating the selected type characters in printing position. I

Other objects and advantages will appear in the course of thespecification, and with all of the objects and advantages in view, thisinvention consists in the several novel features hereinafter fully setforth and claimed.

The invention is clearly illustrated in, the

drawings accompanying this specification in which Figure 1 is a view,p'artl -in front eleva tion and partly in vertical longitudinal section,of a printing device embodying a simple form of the present invention;

Fig. 2"is a plan partly broken away with the top"'plate of the deviceremoved;

Fig. 3 is a vertical cross section taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a fragmerital face view of a coupon ticket illustrating dataprinted thereon by the printing device;

Fig. 5 is a fragmental perspective view of one of the index plates usedin the device;

and

FiguG is a diagrammatic view illustrating a suggested series of typecharacters that may be employed on the printing members.

Referring to said drawings, which illustrate one embodiment of theresent invention, the reference character designates a case, preferablyof rectangular form, having a bottom 7 above which is a compartment 8for receiving the operating mechanism of the device.

Serial No. 510,894.

rows of con ons.

J ournale in the case A are two rock shafts 10 and 11 which extendparallel with each other and are spaced apart a distance equal to thedistance between the lines upon the two rows of coupons where theprinting is to be done.

tatably mounte U on each rock shaft is roa series of relatively thindisk-hke printing members 12, each disk ortion having disposed upon aportion 0 its periphery type characters 13, such as the digits 0 to 9,and a star or blank space or type characters for printin the letters ofthe alphabet may be 'orovi ed.

As a preference,

the type characters are provided upon a marginal flange 14 which may becast upon the disk portions.

When a cast metal flange is employed for the type characters, the flangeand disk are preferably provided with interlocking tongue and slotconnections 15.

The disk-like parts of the printing members 12 being narrower than theflanges which contain the type characters are held in spaced relation byspacers 16 which may be in the form of upright members 17 havingenlarged circular apertured portions 18 at their upper ends whichencircle the shafts 10 and 11. The upright members 17 may extend down tothe bottom 7 of the case and may be connected by horizontal portions 19at their lower ends which are spaced apart by washers 20 through whichextends a rod 21 which is mounted in the walls of the case and issecured thereby as, for instance, by nuts 22 upon the outer end of therod. The washers 20 space apart the spacers 16, thereby permitting theprinting members between the spacers.

12 to rotate freely Each printing member 12 is formed with steppedshoulders 23 disposed along a curved line which is eccentric withrespect to the axis of rotation of the printing member, sa1d shouldersbeing shown as formed upon a tail 2% that extends from the disk-likepart of the printing members. Co-operatlng wlth the stepped shoulders ofthe prmtlng members 12 of each series is an index plate 25 which may bein the form of a flat plate having notches 26 and 27 extending in fromone edge and arranged to align with the dlsklike portions of each seriesof printing members. In the front wall of the case be ow the two seriesof printing members are slots 28 through which the index plates 25 maybe inserted into the interior of the case below the printing members.

The upright edges of each series of spacers 16 coincide with one edge ofan associated slot, and coinciding with the other edge of the slot isthe face of a guide member 29, here shown in the form of an angle ironbar secured to the bottom 7, the upright flange of which co-operateswith the adjacent edges of the spacers 16 to form a guideway forreceiving and guiding the index plate to its operating position in thedevice. Said spacers and angle iron bar act to form lateral supports forthe index plates, whereby the same are held in upright position underthe printing members 12.

A back stop or other abutment member 30 may be provided at the rear wallof the device for determining the position of the index plates under theprinting members 12 so as to bring the notches of said index plates intoalignment with the associated printing memhers. The upper end portionsof the notches of the index plates provide shoulders or stops against'which the shoulders 23 on the printing members are adapted to strikewhenever the printing'members are permitted to turn upon the shafts 10and 11. To insure the proper placing of the index plate in the guideway,the back stop 30 may be provided with a tapered lug 31 adapted to entera nptch formed in'the endedge of the index ate. p The type characters ofeach printing member 12 are spaced equi-distantly along thecircumference of the disk-like portion thereof and the shoulders 23 arespaced apart so as to correspond with the spacing of the typecharacters; that is to say, the angular distance between the shoulders23 is the same as the angular distance between the type characters. Thestepped arrangement of the shoulders provides positioning .meanscooperating with the notched index plate to locate any selectdd typecharacter in printing positionwhen the shoulder corresponding to saidtype character strikes the index plate.

members stop. For instance, in the form of index plate shown, the upperedge portion of the plate forms the stop against which the innermostshoulder 23 of any printing member will stop, and in the present case itstops the printin member at the lace Where the character 0 stands inprmting position. A notch whose depth equals the wldth of the innermostshoulder 23 permits that shoulder to pass the index plate, but the upperedge portion of the notch arrests the second shoulder 23 in the series,thereby stopping the printing member at the place where the typecharacter 1 stands in printing position.

It will be observed, therefore, that the depth of the cut away ornotched portion of the index plate for any selected ty e character issuificient to permit all of the s oulders 23 to pass through the notchwhich precede the shoulder corresponding to the selected type character.The index plates may be ruled, as indicated in Figs. 3 and 5, to showthe depths for the various notches and may contain characterscorresponding to the characters on the printing members so as to aid theworkmen in cutting out the notches of the index plates.

Each of the printing members may contain a blank space or a star,asterisk, or the like, which may be used for the purpose of spacing thenumbers printed, and for the purpose of illustrating the invention, eachfourth notch 27 in the index plate is made of a depth to stop theassociated printing members at the place where the star or asteriskstands in printing position. The fragment of the coupon ticketillustrated in Fig. 4 shows two rows of numbers printed upon the couponswith the star or asterisk intermediate and spacing the numbers on therespective coupons. The index plate may be cut out or notched to printany set or combination of characters desired w th as many digits in thenumbers printed as are necessary. In establishments where the pricesremain fixed for the various operations and there are several schedulesof prices, the required number of properly cut out index plates may bekept on hand, and when the fixed prices become altered, new plates mayreadily be cut out with suitable punching mechanism which, however,forms no part of the present invention.

The printing members 12 normally occupy an inoperative position and maymove from such inoperative position to any selected printing positionprincipally by gravity, or solely by gravity, the tails 2% serving torotate the printing members upon their axes. A clearing device isprovided for bringing each series of printing members back intoinoperative position, and, as shown, the clearing device for each seriescomprises a bar 32 carried upon the ends of arms 33 which are rigidlymounted upon the rock shafts 10 and 11. The bars 32 form supports forthe tails of the printing members, and, as shown, said tails may beprovided with lugs 34 which rest upon the bars 32. A crank arm 35 isrigidly mounted upon one of the shafts or 11 and provides means wherebythe shaft case. The gearing not only causes simultaneous rotation of thetwo shafts, but also causes them to rotate in reverse directions whichenables the two series of printing .members to be placed relativelyclose together.

In order to positively rotate the printing members 12, friction rollersmay be provided which extend parallel with the axes of the disk-likeportions of the printing members and frictionally engage the peripheriesindex plates for setting up the selected type thereof. The frictionrollers maybe in the form of rubber rollers, or cylindrical brushes. orthe rollers may be covered with felt or other pliable material, so thatthe stopping of any of the printing members will not interfere with thecontinued rotation of the friction rollers. The friction rollers arejournaled in the walls of the case and are geared to the shafts 10 and11 as, for instance, by pinions 41 mounted on the shafts of the rollersand gear wheels 42 mounted on the shafts 10 and 11. The ratio of thegears is such that the surface speed of the friction rollers shall besubstantially the same or slightly greater than that of the disk-likeportions of the printing members.

The upper side of the case is covered by a plate 43 fastened to the caseand having elongated slots 44 arranged in vertical alignment with theshafts. 10 and 11, and through which the type characters onthe printingmembers are exposed when brought into printing position. Any suitablemeans may be provided for making the impressions on the card which is tobe printed, and convenientlv ink ribbons 45 may be provided between theplate 43 and the printing members, and

rollers or pressure pads 46 may be provided above the plate for pressingthe card down upon the ink ribbons so as to receive the impressions fromthe type characters.

In the operation of thedevice, the proper characters to print therequired data on the card are inserted into theguideways of the device,and the crank arm 35 is then turned in the direction of the arrow inFig. 1, thereby swinging down both clearing devices and permitting theprinting members to rotate upon their axes until stopped by theshoulders thereof that strike against the upper edge ortions of thenotched out parts of the index plates which brings the correspondingselected type characters into printing position underneath the slots inthe cover.

When the friction rollers are employed, the latter are rotated throughthe instrumentalities of the shafts and the gearing between the rollersand shafts, and by reason of the friction applied to the edges ofthe'disk-like parts of the printing members, the latter are positivelyrotated until arrested by the index plates. The card to be printed isthen laid upon the cover and the impression making device is broughtdownupon the card, thereby causing an impression to be made thereupon by thetype characters which have 'been brought into printing position.

To restore the printing members to inoperative position, the crank armis turned in the reverse direction, whereby the clearing devices areswung upward. By reason of the engagement of the cross bars 32 with thetails 24 of the printing members, the latter are turned back to theirnormal position.

It will be understood that one series of the printing members may beemployed in a printing device for printing a single row of characters,in which case the other series of printing members and the mechanism forprinting mechanism for printing other data a on the coupon ticket. Onetype of such printing mechanism is shown and described in my applicationfor patent on coupon ticket printing machines, filed October 31, 1930,Serial No. 492,506. It is to be understood, however, that the printingmechanism associated with the present device may take various forms, andthat the present device may be used alone or in association with otherprinting mechanism.

More or less variation of the exact details of construction is possiblewithout departing from the spirit of this invention. I desire,therefore, not to limit myself to the exact form of the constructionshown and described, but intend, in the following claims, to point outall of the invention disclosed herein.

I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. In a printing device, a series of printing members having spaced typecharacters thereon and stop shoulders thereon conforming to the spacingof the type characters in combination with an insertable and removablecircumferentially dispose index plate having shoulders thereoncooperating with the stop shoulders of said printinglmembers to locateselected type characters t ereof in printing position.

2. In a. printing device, a series of print ing members having spacedtype characters thereon and stop shoulders thereon conforming to thespacing of the type characters in combination with a plurality ofinsertable .on and provided with stepped shoulders corresponding inlocation with the location of .the type characters on the printingmembers, 1n combination with an index plate having shoulders thereonco-operating with the shoulders on the printing members to locate theselected type characters in printingposition.

4. In a printing device, a series of rotatably mounted printing membershaving type characters circumferentiall disposed thereon, each printingmember being provided with stepped shoulders eccentrically disposed withrespect to the axis of rotation of the printing member, in combinationwith an index plate having shoulders thereon co-operating with theshoulder on the printing member to locate the selected type charactersthereof in printing position. 7

5. In a printing device, a series of rotatably mounted printing membershaving type characters circumferentially disposed thereon, each printingmember having a tail formed with stepped shoulders eccentricallyarranged with respect to the axis of rotation of the printing member,said printing members actmg to move the type characters to printingposition by gravity, in combination with an index plate having meansthereon co-operating with said stepped shoulders to locate selected typecharacters in printin position.

6. In a printing device, a series o rotatably mounted printing members,each having a disk-like part on which type characters arecircumferentially disposed, and a series of step ed eccentricallydisposed shoulders in com ination with a friction roller engaging saiddisk-like parts, means for rotating said roller, and an index plateco-operating with said shoulders of the printing members to locateselected type characters in printing position.

7. In a printing device, a series of rotatably mounted printing members,each having a disk-like part on which type characters are a series ofstep ed eccentrically disposed shoulders in com mation with a frictionroller engaging said disk-like parts, a crank arm, gearing for rotatingsaid friction roller from said crank arm, and an index plate havingshoulders cooperating with the shoulders on the printing members tolocate selected type characters in printing position.

8. In a printing device, a seriesof rotatabl mounted printing memberscomprising dis -like portions on which are circumferentially disposedtype characters, and tails extendin from the disk-like portions andformer? with stepped shoulders corresponding in location with thelocation of the type characters on the disk-like portions, said printingmembers capable of occupying printing positions and an inoperativeposition, in cmbination with an index plate having means co-operatingwith the shulders on the tails of the printing members to locateselected type characters in printing position, and a clearing deviceengaging the tails of said printing members and operating to restore theprinting members to their inoperative position.

9. In a printing device, a series of rotatably mounted printing memberscomprising disk-like portions on which are circumferentially disposedtype characters, and tails extending from said disk-like portions andformed with stepped shoulders corresponding in location with thelocation of the type characters on the disk-like portions, said printingmembers capable of occupying printing positions and an inoperativeposition, in combination with an index plate having means thereonco-operating with the shoulders on the printing members to locateselected type characters in printing position, a rotable clearing devicemounted to rotate on the axis of the printing members and adapted torestore the printing members to inoperative position, and a crank armfor manipulating said clearing device.

10. In a printin device, a series of rotatable printing mem ershavingdisk-like portions provided with type characters on their peripheriesand having also tails provided with stepped shoulders corresponding inlocation with the location of the type characters on the disk-likeportions, a shaft on which said printing members are rotatably mounted,a clearing device fixedly secured to said shaft and having a barsupportingly engaging the tails of the printing members, and a crank armconnected to said shaft.

11. In a printing device, the combination of two spaced series ofrotatable printing members having type characters circumferentiallydisposed thereon and provided with stepped shoulders corresponding inlocation with the location of the type. characters on the printingmembers, rock shafts upon which said two series of printing members arerotatably mounted, gearing between said shafts for causing simultaneousrotation thereof, clearing devices, one for each series of printingmembers, and mounted on an associated shaft, and index plates, one foreach series of printing members, and having shoulders thereonco-operating with the shoulders on the printing members to locate theselected type characters in printing position.

12. In a printing device, the combination of two series of rotatableprinting members having type characters circumferentially disposedthereon and provided with stepped shoulders corresponding in locationwith the location of the type characters on the printing members, tworock shafts on which said two series of printing members are rotatablymounted, gearing between said shafts for causing simultaneous rotationthereof, means for rotating one oi said shafts, clearing devices, onefor each series-of printing members and mounted on an associated shaft,and having means supportingly engaging the stepped portions of theprinting members, and index plates one for each series of printingmembers and having means co-operating with the shoulders on the printingmembers to locate the selected type characters in printing position.

13. In a printing device, a series of rotatable printing members havingtype characters circumferentially disposed thereon and provided withstepped shoulders corresponding in location with the location of thetype characters on the printing members, a rock shaft on which saidprinting members are rotatably mounted, spacers interposed between. saidprinting members and having upright portions forming one side of aguideway, a guide member forming the other side ofthe guideway, and anindex plate slidablv guided in said guideway and having shoul-- dersthereon co-operating with the shoulders on the printing members tolocate the selected type characters in printing position.

14. In a printing device, the combination of a series of rotatableprinting members having tvpe characters circumferentially disposedthereon and provided with stepped shoulders corresponding in locationwith the location of the type characters on the printing members, ashaft on which said printing members are rotatably mounted, uprightspacing members interposed between said printing members and havingportions surrounding said shaft, a guide member 00- operating with saidupright spacers to form a guideway, and an index plate slidably guidedin said guidewa'y and having shoulders thereon co-operating with theshoulders on the printing members to locate the selected type charactersin printing position.

15. In a printing device, the combination of two series of rotatablymounted printing members having type characters circumferentiallydisposed thereon and provided with stepped shoulders corresponding inlocation

